Tomb Treasures of the Late Middle Kingdom. Wolfram Grajetzki

unit. Twenty-five of these units were found interspersed with single beads in three rows. Hanging from this arrangement were twenty-five golden shells.¹⁷ A second necklace consists of two strings of feldspar beads. Between these strings are twenty-one (tall) sa signs of different materials.¹⁸ The sa sign is a hieroglyphic sign meaning “protection.” A third necklace consists of a single string of beads in the shape of a long vase, called hes in ancient Egyptian (Fig. 12). The beads were made of different materials. This necklace has a pendant in the shape of a shen sign.¹⁹ The shen sign was a popular motif, especially in the late Middle Kingdom but also in later periods. The exact meaning is unknown, but it may have offered some protection. As a pendant or amulet, it is indeed found in some late Middle Kingdom burials, almost becoming a standard object in the burial equipment of the period.²⁰ Of the fourth necklace, only one single carnelian bead was found, and it remains unknown what style of necklace it belonged to. Several further faience beads were found in the burial, and their exact function and position also remain unknown. The single carnelian bead is quite typical of burials of the time, and examples were found attached to anthropoid coffins. It is also known from its depiction on objects in pictorial friezes decorating coffins, and in that context is known as a sweret (Fig. 13).²¹ The exact magical function of this bead is not known, but it appears as a single bead on a string around the neck of the deceased on anthropoid coffins and mummy masks.²² “Sweri” is the Ancient Egyptian word for drinking, and there might be a connection. Perhaps the sweret bead was some kind of guarantee that the deceased would be able to drink (and eat) for all eternity. Others see it as protection against snakebites.²³

12. Necklaces of Senebtisi. From Mace, Winlock 1916, pl. XXIII.

13. Necklaces of Senebtisi. At the bottom is the sweret bead. It seems unlikely that it was part of a bead necklace as reconstructed here. From Mace, Winlock 1916, pl. XXVI.

      The sweret bead is also sporadically depicted on the inside of coffins.²⁴ Early Middle Kingdom coffins are often decorated on the inside with long religious texts but also with friezes of objects. In these friezes are shown objects that also appear in some tombs as burial goods. The pictures have captions providing us with the names of many of these objects. Not all objects depicted in friezes are known as burial goods, however, and other objects were only sporadically found in burials. The coffin friezes of the middle of the Twelfth Dynasty, in particular, often show objects that also appear in the court type burials. These are mainly royal insignia. This might indicate that royal rituals were copied by private individuals.²⁵ It therefore seems that there were two phases for royal insignia in private burials. In the middle of the Twelfth Dynasty they were painted on the inside of coffins. In the late Twelfth Dynasty the insides of coffins were no longer decorated. Instead, a selection of these items appears as real objects in the burial chamber next to the deceased. The picture is certainly more complicated, however. Decorated coffins were mainly found in provincial cemeteries. The royal insignia were mainly found in cemeteries of the royal residence. Furthermore, royal insignia already appear sporadically in earlier burials, often those of local governors.

      Around the pelvis of Senebtisi there was an apron or kilt (Fig. 14).²⁶ It is decorated with rows of beads hanging from it and with the lotus and the papyrus at the upper ends. The apron therefore symbolized Upper and Lower Egypt, as the lotus and the papyrus were the symbols of these parts of the country. This type of kilt is also known from depictions of the king and was therefore a royal garment. It is also often shown on friezes of objects on early Middle Kingdom coffins and was therefore an essential part of a certain type of burial. On these friezes captions are also found, and from them the Egyptian name of the apron, besa, is known.²⁷ In the center of the girdle is a gilded wooden plate on which the name “Senebtisi” is written in black paint. The wood had perished when it was found, and it therefore remains unknown whether this piece once formed some kind of clasp. At the back of the girdle were the remains of a decorative “tail.” It too was made of wood and decorated with beads. In the friezes of Middle Kingdom coffins the tail appears as independent object and is called menkeret.²⁸ A carnelian swallow is typical of this type of burial and was perhaps once attached to the apron.²⁹ The swallow, often shown with a sun disk on the back, also appears in the Coffin Texts and is there called siat.³⁰ This type of apron with the swallow and the tail is a feature of several court type burials, but certainly not of all of them.³¹ Diana Graig Patch argued that the apron was worn as a symbol for the sun god Re’s daily birth. Indeed, a bead network, similar to the one on the apron, is visible on the solar barque of Re.³²

14. The royal apron of Senebtisi (c. 58.5 cm wide). From Mace, Winlock 1916, pl. XXVII.

15. Armlets and anklets of Senebtisi. From Mace, Winlock 1916, pl. XXVIb.

      Senebtisi was wearing two armlets³³ and two anklets³⁴ composed of gilded wooden bars with faience beads strung between them (Fig. 15). They were evidently made for the burial, since they were not long enough to go around the arms or legs and there was no means of fastening them together, so they were simply placed on the arms and legs of the mummy.³⁵ Several other smaller objects and many more beads were found, but their exact function and arrangement remain obscure.

      Within the second coffin, but outside the anthropoid coffin, was found a set of staves and weapons (Fig. 16). These consisted of a double staff known as pedj-aha in ancient Egypt; a long heqa staff and a simple staff with a forked lower end called abet;³⁶ two was scepters, one wavy staff, and another more or less plain staff. Both was scepters had a stylized animal head on the top with eyes; one even had a broad collar painted under the head. This group also included two bows, a flail,³⁷ and a mace.³⁸ The flail was made of several conical beads attached to a wooden handle. The final object was a mace with a head made of aragonite (a type of stone). In the anthropoid coffin placed close to Senebtisi on her left side was also found a copper dagger,³⁹ placed within a partly gilded wooden sheath. The dagger was one of the most important items placed in certain burials of women in the late Middle Kingdom. In the Old Kingdom the dagger is already listed with other items also known from the late Middle Kingdom burials at the royal court.⁴⁰ The dagger was evidently seen as essential for a certain type of burial. Its religious or ritual meaning still remains obscure.

16. Scepters and flail. From Mace, Winlock 1916, pl. XXa.

      Within the wrappings at the head of Senebtisi’s mummy was found a round disk about 8 cm in diameter made of a dark resinous material (Fig. 17). Similar objects are known from the burials of the royal women discovered next to the pyramid of Amenemhat II. The function of this object is unknown.⁴¹

      Next to the coffin on the left or east side was a long box once containing another set of staffs and scepters. These were badly decayed; only the stone head of a mace was well preserved. Next to the long box stood two small boxes or shrines, each about 20 cm high. These are both highly exceptional objects, not recorded in other burials of this type. One wonders what they once contained. All that was found inside was the remains of cloth, but its original function could not be determined. There are